Policy management

ABSTRACT

In embodiments of the present invention improved capabilities are described for the operation of a threat management facility, wherein the threat management facility may provide for a plurality of computer asset protection services to a corporate computer network. The threat management facility may provide a policy management service as one of the plurality of protection services, wherein the policy management service may be adapted to provide corporate policy updates to a plurality of computer facilities associated with the corporate computer network. In addition, the corporate policy updates, and a related corporate policy, may relate to the acceptability of an operation of a computer application.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/855,107, filed Sep. 13, 2007, which claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional App. No. 60/825,557, filed Sep. 13, 2006, where the entirecontents of each of the foregoing are hereby incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND Field

The present invention is related to computer security, and morespecifically to the control of computer program access.

Description of the Related Art

Over recent years, malware and productivity inhibitors have become amajor problem across the internet. From both technical and userpositions the categorization of a specific threat, as a virus, worm,spam, phish, spyware, adware, or the like, may becoming reduced insignificance. The threat, no matter what it's referred to, may need tobe stopped at all points of the computer system infrastructure,including laptop, desktop, server, gateway, network, PDA, mobile phone,and the like. Therefore a need exists for an improved threat managementfacility applied to the same set of technologies and capabilities forall threats.

Further, software has become so easy to install on computers that it hasbecome very difficult to control what software is running on them orwhat applications have the ability to run on them. While quick downloadsand simple installations of computer applications can make operation ofnew functionalities in the computer environment easy, new softwareinstallations can be problematic. In the corporate environment, ITmanagers are given the task to maintain security, equipment, andcorporate policies and each of these tasks becomes increasingly moredifficult as more software applications are loaded on to computersystems within the corporate domain. The corporation may want to controlthe types of software applications that are run on its network servers,client computers, and other computing facilities within its control. Thecorporation may also want to control the software applications and theirversions for many reasons, such as for corporate policy reasons, legalreasons, user efficiency, network load control, common applicationusage, application license control, or the like.

Controlling the applications that are running on all of the computingfacilities under the control of an IT manager is very difficult andthere exists a need to improve this capability.

SUMMARY

In embodiments of the present invention, improved capabilities aredescribed for the operation of a threat management facility, where thethreat management facility may provide for a plurality of computer assetprotection services to a corporate computer network. The threatmanagement facility may provide a policy management service as one ofthe plurality of protection services, wherein the policy managementservice may be adapted to provide corporate policy updates to aplurality of computer facilities associated with the corporate computernetwork. In addition, the corporate policy updates, and a relatedcorporate policy, may relate to the acceptability of an operation of acomputer application.

In embodiments, the threat management facility may provide for theplurality of protection services to a plurality of corporate computernetwork customers. Updates from the threat management facility mayinclude updates to at least one of a white list of acceptableapplications, white list of a group of application types, black list ofunacceptable applications, black list of unacceptable application types,and the like. In embodiments, the plurality of services provided by thethreat management facility may be a malicious code protection updateservice, providing a firewall service, and the like.

In embodiments, protected computer facilities may include a desktopcomputer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a handheld computer, aPDA, a mobile phone, a server, a web server, a file server, and thelike, that may operate a local version of a policy manager that may beupdated by the policy management service. The policy manager may containa white list of acceptable applications, white list of a group ofapplication types, black list of unacceptable applications, a black listof unacceptable application types for which the computer facility canexecute, and the like.

In embodiments, the threat management facility may be a server basedthreat management facility. The threat management facility may beprovided as a third party service in relation to a corporationassociated with the corporate computer network. The threat managementfacility may provide internal policy management tools to a corporationassociated with the corporate computer network for making modificationsto policies such that the policies regulating the plurality of computerfacilities may be updated through the internal policy management toolsand the threat management facility. In addition, the corporate policyupdate may include a list provided by a corporation associated with thecorporate computer network of at least one of acceptable andunacceptable applications or group of application types.

In embodiments, the policy management service may automaticallycategorize applications, where the automatic categorization may be basedon an association of an application's behavior as compared with that ofapplications in the provided category. Automatic categorization may bebased on an association of contextual information relating to anapplication as compared with that of applications in the providedcategory, an association of contextual information relating to anapplication as compared with that of applications in the providedcategory, an association of an application's content as compared withthat of applications in the provided category, an association ofreputation information relating to an application as compared with thatof applications in the provided category, and the like.

In embodiments, the computer program may be a network application, a webapplication, and the like. In embodiments, the computer application maybe an executable computer program on one of the computer facilities.Corporate policy may relate to a user type, wherein the user type isused at least in part to determine what computer applications can beoperated. In addition, the threat management facility may provide a userfeedback module to facilitate user requested policy modifications.

These and other systems, methods, objects, features, and advantages ofthe present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art fromthe following detailed description of the preferred embodiment and thedrawings. All documents mentioned herein are hereby incorporated intheir entirety by reference.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The invention and the following detailed description of certainembodiments thereof may be understood by reference to the followingfigures:

FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of the threat management facilityproviding protection to an enterprise against a plurality of threats.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of a flow chart showing the process ofintercepting an application and determining if the application should beexecuted.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of a flow chart showing the process ofupdating the analysis databases using a managed service.

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of the associations between the variouscomponents of the invention.

While the invention has been described in connection with certainpreferred embodiments, other embodiments would be understood by one ofordinary skill in the art and are encompassed herein.

All documents referenced herein are hereby incorporated by reference.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An aspect of the present invention relates to corporate policymanagement and their implementation through a unified threat managementfacility 100. As will be explained in more detail below, a threatmanagement facility 100 is used to protect computer assets from manythreats, both computer generated threats and user generated threats. Thethreat management facility 100 is multi-dimensional in that it isdesigned to protect corporate assets from a variety of threats and it isadapted to learn about threats in one dimension (e.g. worm detection)and apply the knowledge in another dimension (e.g. spam detection).Corporate policy management is one of the dimensions for which thethreat management facility can control. The corporation may institute apolicy that prevents certain people (e.g. employees, groups ofemployees, types of employees, guest of the corporation, etc.) fromaccessing certain types of computer programs. For example, thecorporation may elect to prevent its accounting department from using aparticular version of an instant messaging service or all such services.In this example, the policy management facility 112 may be used toupdate the policies of all corporate computing assets with a properpolicy control facility or it may update a select few. By using thethreat management facility 100 to facilitate the setting, updating andcontrol of such policies the corporation only needs to be concerned withkeeping the threat management facility 100 up to date on such policies.The threat management facility 100 can take care of updating all of theother corporate computing assets.

It should be understood that the threat management facility 100 mayprovide multiple services and policy management may be offered as one ofthe services. We will now turn to a description of the threat managementsystem 100.

Over recent years, malware has become a major problem across theinternet 154. From both technical and user perspectives thecategorization of a specific threat type, such as whether it is a virus,worm, spam, phishing exploration, spyware, adware, or the like, isbecoming reduced in significance. The threat, no matter how it'scategorized, may need to be stopped at all points of the enterprisefacility 102, including laptop, desktop, server facility 142, gateway,and the like. Similarly, there may be less and less benefit to the userin having different solutions for known and unknown threats. As such, aconsolidated threat management facility 100 may need to be applied tothe same set of technologies and capabilities for all threats. Thethreat management facility 100 may provide a single agent on thedesktop, and a single scan of any suspect file. This approach mayeliminate the inevitable overlaps and gaps in protection caused bytreating viruses and spyware as separate problems, while simultaneouslysimplifying administration and minimizing desktop load. As the numberand range of types of threats has increased, so may have the level ofconnectivity available to all IT users. This may have lead to a rapidincrease in the speed at which threats may move. Today, an unprotectedPC connected to the internet 154 may be infected quickly, say within 10minutes, which may require acceleration for the delivery of threatprotection. Where once, monthly updates may have been sufficient, thethreat management facility 100 may automatically and seamlessly updateits product set against spam and virus threats quickly, for instance,every five minutes, every minute, continuously, or the like. Analysisand testing may be increasingly automated, and also may be performedmore frequently; for instance, it may be completed in 15 minutes, andmay do so without compromising quality. The threat management facility100 may also extend techniques that may have been developed for virusand malware protection, and provide them to enterprise facility 102network administrators to better control their environments. In additionto stopping malicious code, the threat management facility 100 mayprovide policy management that may be able to control legitimateapplications, such as VoIP, instant messaging, peer-to-peerfile-sharing, and the like, that may undermine productivity and networkperformance within the enterprise facility 102.

The threat management facility 100 may provide an enterprise facility102 protection from computer-based malware, including viruses, spyware,adware, Trojans, intrusion, spam, policy abuse, uncontrolled access, andthe like, where the enterprise facility 102 may be any entity with anetworked computer-based infrastructure. In an embodiment, FIG. 1 maydepict a block diagram of the threat management facility providingprotection to an enterprise against a plurality of threats. Theenterprise facility 102 may be corporate, commercial, educational,governmental, or the like, and the enterprise facility's 102 computernetwork may be distributed amongst a plurality of facilities, and in aplurality of geographical locations. The threat management facility 100may include a plurality of functions, such as security managementfacility 122, policy management facility 112, update facility 120,definitions facility 114, network access rules facility 124, remedialaction facility 128, detection techniques facility 130, testing facility118, threat research facility 132, and the like. In embodiments, thethreat protection provided by the threat management facility 100 mayextend beyond the network boundaries of the enterprise facility 102 toinclude enterprise facility 102 client facility's 144 that have movedinto network connectivity not directly associated or controlled by theenterprise facility 102. Threats to enterprise facility 102 clientfacilities 144 may come from a plurality of sources, such as fromnetwork threats 104, physical proximity threats 110, secondary locationthreats 108, and the like. In embodiments, the threat managementfacility 100 may provide an enterprise facility 102 protection from aplurality of threats to multiplatform computer resources in a pluralityof locations and network configurations, with an integrated systemapproach.

In embodiments, the threat management facility 100 may be provided as astand-alone solution. In other embodiments, the threat managementfacility 100 may be integrated into a third-party product. Anapplication programming interface (e.g. a source code interface) may beprovided such that the threat management facility 100 may be integrated.For instance, the threat management facility 100 may be stand-alone inthat it provides direct threat protection to an enterprise or computerresource, where protection is subscribed to directly with the threatmanagement facility 100. Alternatively, the threat management facilitymay offer protection indirectly, through a third-party product, where anenterprise may subscribe to services through the third-party product,and threat protection to the enterprise may be provided by the threatmanagement facility 100 through the third-party product.

The security management facility 122 may include a plurality of elementsthat provide protection from malware to enterprise facility 102 computerresources, including endpoint security and control, email security andcontrol, web security and control, control of unauthorized users,control of guest and non-compliant computers, and the like. The securitymanagement facility 122 may be a software application that may providemalicious code and malicious application protection to a client facility144 computing resource. The security management facility 122 may havethe ability to scan the client facility 144 files for malicious code,remove or quarantine certain applications and files, prevent certainactions, perform remedial actions and perform other security measures.In embodiments, scanning the client facility 144 may include scanningsome or all of the files stored to the client facility 144 on a periodicbasis, may scan applications once the application has been requested toexecute, may scan files as the files are transmitted to or from theclient facility 144, or the like. The scanning of the applications andfiles may be to detect known malicious code or known unwantedapplications. In an embodiment, new malicious code and unwantedapplications may be continually developed and distributed, and updatesto the known code database may be provided on a periodic basis, on ademand basis, on an alert basis, or the like.

In an embodiment, the security management facility 122 may provide foremail security and control, where security management may help toeliminate spam, viruses, spyware and phishing, control of email content,and the like. The security management facilities 122 email security andcontrol may protect against inbound and outbound threats, protect emailinfrastructure, prevent data leakage, provide spam filtering, and thelike. In an embodiment, security management facility 122 may provide forweb security and control, where security management may help to detector block viruses, spyware, malware, unwanted applications, help controlweb browsing, and the like, which may provide comprehensive web accesscontrol enabling safe, productive web browsing. Web security and controlmay provide internet use policies, reporting on suspect devices,security and content filtering, active monitoring of network traffic,URL filtering, and the like. In an embodiment, the security managementfacility 122 may provide for network access control, which may providecontrol over network connections. Network control may stop unauthorized,guest, or non-compliant systems from accessing networks, and may controlnetwork traffic that may not be bypassed from the client level. Inaddition, network access control may control access to virtual privatenetworks (VPN), where VPNs may be a communications network tunneledthrough another network, establishing a logical connection acting as avirtual network. In embodiments, a VPN may be treated in the same manneras a physical network.

In an embodiment, the security management facility 122 may provide forhost intrusion prevention through behavioral based protection, which mayguard against unknown threats by analyzing behavior before software codeexecutes. Behavioral based protection may monitor code when it runs andintervene if the code is deemed to be suspicious or malicious.Advantages of behavioral based protection over runtime protection mayinclude code being prevented from running, whereas runtime protectionmay only interrupt code that has already partly executed; behavioralprotection may identify malicious code at the gateway or on the fileservers and deletes it before reaching end-point computers; and thelike.

In an embodiment, the security management facility 122 may provide forreputation filtering, which may target or identify sources of knownmalware. For instance, reputation filtering may include lists of URLs ofknown sources of malware or known suspicious IP addresses, or domains,say for spam, that when detected may invoke an action by the threatmanagement facility 100, such as dropping them immediately. By droppingthe source before any interaction can initiate, potential threat sourcesmay be thwarted before any exchange of data can be made.

In embodiments, information may be sent from the enterprise back to athird party, a vendor, or the like, which may lead to improvedperformance of the threat management facility 100. For example, thetypes, times, and number of virus interactions that a client experiencesmay provide useful information for the preventions of future virusthreats. This type of feedback may be useful for any aspect of threatdetection. Feedback of information may also be associated with behaviorsof individuals within the enterprise, such as being associated with mostcommon violations of policy, network access, unauthorized applicationloading, unauthorized external device use, and the like. In embodiments,this type of information feedback may enable the evaluation or profilingof client actions that are violations of policy that may provide apredictive model for the improvement of enterprise policies.

In an embodiment, the security management facility 122 may provide forthe overall security of the enterprise facility 102 network or set ofenterprise facility 102 networks, may provide updates of malicious codeinformation to the enterprise facility 102 network, and associatedclient facilities 144. The updates may be a planned update, an update inreaction to a threat notice, an update in reaction to a request for anupdate, an update based on a search of known malicious code information,or the like. The administration facility 134 may provide control overthe security management facility 122 when updates are performed. Theupdates may be automatically transmitted without an administrationfacility's 134 direct control, manually transmitted by theadministration facility 134, or the like. The security managementfacility 122 may include the management of receiving malicious codedescriptions from a provider, distribution of malicious codedescriptions to enterprise facility 102 networks, distribution ofmalicious code descriptions to client facilities 144, or the like. In anembodiment, the management of malicious code information may be providedto the enterprise facility's 102 network, where the enterprisefacility's 102 network may provide the malicious code informationthrough the enterprise facility's 102 network distribution system.

The threat management facility 100 may provide policy managementfacility 112 that may be able to block non-malicious applications, suchas VoIP 164, instant messaging 162, peer-to-peer file-sharing, and thelike, that may undermine productivity and network performance within theenterprise facility 102. The policy management facility 112 may be a setof rules or policies that may indicate enterprise facility 102 accesspermissions for the client facility 144, such as access permissionsassociated with the network, applications, external computer devices,and the like. The policy management facility 112 may include a database,a text file, a combination of databases and text files, or the like. Inan embodiment, a policy database may be a block list, a black list, anallowed list, a white list, or the like that may provide a list ofenterprise facility 102external network locations/applications that mayor may not be accessed by the client facility 144. The policy managementfacility 112 may include rules that may be interpreted with respect toan enterprise facility 102 network access request to determine if therequest should be allowed. The rules may provide a generic rule for thetype of access that may be granted; the rules may be related to thepolicies of an enterprise facility 102 for access rights for theenterprise facility's 102 client facility 144. For example, there may bea rule that does not permit access to sporting websites. When a websiteis requested by the client facility 144, a security facility may accessthe rules within a policy facility to determine if the requested accessis related to a sporting website. In an embodiment, the securityfacility may analyze the requested website to determine if the websitematches with any of the policy facility rules.

The policy management facility 112 may be similar to the securitymanagement facility 122 but with the distribution of enterprise facility102 wide access rules and policies that may maintain control of theaccess of client facility 144 to enterprise facility 102 networkresources. The policies may be defined for application type, subset ofapplication capabilities, organization hierarchy, computer facilitytype, user type, network location, time of day, connection type, or thelike. Policies may be maintained by the administration facility 134,through the threat management facility 100, in association with a thirdparty, or the like. For example, a policy may restrict IM 162 activityto only support personnel for communicating with customers. This mayallow communication for departments requiring access, but may maintainthe network bandwidth for other activities by restricting the use of IM162 to only the personnel that need access to IM 162 in support of theenterprise facility 102. In an embodiment, the policy managementfacility 112 may be a standalone application, may be part of the policymanagement facility 112 network server facility 142, may be part of theenterprise facility 102 network, may be part of the client facility 144,or the like.

In embodiments, the threat management facility 100 may provideconfiguration management, which may be similar to policy management, butmay specifically examine the configuration set of applications,operating systems, hardware, and the like, and managing changes to theirconfigurations. Assessment of a configuration may be made against astandard configuration policy, detection of configuration changes,remediation of improper configuration, application of newconfigurations, and the like. An enterprise may keep a set of standardconfiguration rules and policies which may represent the desired stateof the device. For example, a client firewall may be running andinstalled, but in the disabled state, where remediation may be to enablethe firewall. In another example, the enterprise may set a rule thatdisallows the use of USB disks, and sends a configuration change to allclients, which turns off USB drive access via a registry.

In embodiments, the threat management facility 100 may also provide forthe removal of applications that may interfere with the operation of thethreat management facility 100, such as competitor products that mayalso be attempting similar threat management functions. The removal ofsuch products may be initiated automatically whenever such products aredetected. In the case where such applications are services are providedindirectly through a third-party product, the application may besuspended until action is taken to remove or disable the third-partyproduct's protection facility.

Threat management against a sometimes quickly evolving malwareenvironment may require timely updates, and the update managementfacility 120 may be provided by the threat management facility100.enterprise facility 102. In addition, a policy management facility112 may also require update management (e.g. as provided by the updatefacility 120 herein described), as the enterprise facility 102requirements for policies change enterprise facility 102 server facility142 enterprise facility 102 client facility 144 server facility 142enterprise facility 102. The update management for the security facility122 and policy management facility 112 may be provided directly by thethreat management facility 100, such as by a hosted system or inconjunction with the administration facility 134. In embodiments, thethreat management facility 100 may provide for patch management, where apatch may be an update to an operating system, an application, a systemtool, or the like, where one of the reasons for the patch is to reducevulnerability to threats.

In embodiments, the security facility 122 and policy management facility112 may push information to the enterprise facility 102 network and/orclient facility 144, the enterprise facility 102 network and/or clientfacility 144 may pull information from the security facility 122 andpolicy management facility 112 network server facilities 142, there maybe a combination of pushing and pulling of information between thesecurity facility 122 and the policy management facility 112 networkservers 142, enterprise facility 102 network, and client facilities 144,or the like. For example, the enterprise facility 102 network and/orclient facility 144 may pull information from the security facility 122and policy management facility 112 network server facility 142 mayrequest the information using the security facility 122 and policymanagement facility 112 update module; the request may be based on acertain time period, by a certain time, by a date, on demand, or thelike. In another example, the security facility 122 and policymanagement facility 112 network servers 142 may push the information tothe enterprise facility's 102 network and/or client facility 144 byproviding notification that there are updates available for download andthen transmitting the information. The combination of the securitymanagement 122 network server facility 142 and security update modulemay function substantially the same as the policy management facility112 network server and policy update module by providing information tothe enterprise facility 102 network and the client facility 144 in apush or pull method. In an embodiment, the policy management facility112 and the security facility 122 management update modules may work inconcert to provide all the needed information to the enterprisefacility's 102 network and/or client facility 144 for control ofapplication execution. In an embodiment, the policy update module andsecurity update module may be combined into a single update module.

As threats are identified and characterized, the threat managementfacility 100 may create definition updates that may be used to allow thethreat management facility 100 to detect and remediate the latestmalicious software, unwanted applications, configuration and policychanges, and the like. . . . The threat definition facility 114 maycontain threat identification updates, also referred to as definitionfiles. A definition file may be a virus identity file that may includedefinitions of known or potential malicious code. The IDE definitionfiles may provide information that may identify malicious code withinfiles, applications, or the like. The definition files may be accessedby security management facility 122 when scanning files or applicationswithin the client facility 144 for the determination of malicious codethat may be within the file or application. The definition files maycontain a number of commands, definitions, or instructions, to be parsedand acted upon, or the like. In embodiments, the client facility 144 maybe updated with new definition files periodically to provide the clientfacility 144 with the most recent malicious code definitions; theupdating may be performed on a set time period, may be updated on demandfrom the client facility 144, may be updated on demand from the network,may be updated on a received malicious code alert, or the like. In anembodiment, the client facility 144 may request an update to thedefinition files from an update facility 120 within the network, mayrequest updated definition files from a computing facility external tothe network, updated definition files may be provided to the clientfacility 114 from within the network, definition files may be providedto the client facility 144 from an external computing facility from anexternal network, or the like.

In an embodiment, a definition management facility 114 may provide forthe timely updates of definition files information to the network,client facilities 144, and the like. New and altered malicious code andmalicious applications may be continually created and distributed tonetworks worldwide. The definition files that maintain the definitionsof the malicious code and malicious application information for theprotection of the networks and client facilities 144 may need continualupdating to provide continual defense of the network and client facility144 from the malicious code and malicious applications. The definitionfiles management may provide for automatic and manual methods ofupdating the definition files. In embodiments, the network may receivedefinition files and distribute the definition files to the networkclient facilities 144, the client facilities 144 may receive thedefinition files directly, or the network and client facilities 144 mayboth receive the definition files, or the like. In an embodiment, thedefinition files may be updated on a fixed periodic basis, on demand bythe network and/or the client facility 144, as a result of an alert of anew malicious code or malicious application, or the like. In anembodiment, the definition files may be released as a supplemental fileto an existing definition files to provide for rapid updating of thedefinition files.

In a similar manner, the security management facility 122 may be used toscan an outgoing file and verify that the outgoing file is permitted tobe transmitted per the enterprise facility 102 rules and policies. Bychecking outgoing files, the security management facility 122 may beable discover malicious code infected files that were not detected asincoming files as a result of the client facility 144 having beenupdated with either new definition files or policy management facility112 information. The definition files may discover the malicious codeinfected file by having received updates of developing malicious codefrom the administration facility 134, updates from a definition filesprovider, or the like. The policy management facility 112 may discoverthe malicious code infected file by having received new updates from theadministration facility 134, from a rules provider, or the like.

The threat management facility 100 may provide for a way to controlaccess to the enterprise facility 102 networks. For instance, theenterprise facility 102 may want to restrict access to certainapplications, networks, files, printers, servers, databases, or thelike. In addition, the enterprise facility 102 may want to restrict useraccess under certain conditions, such as the user's location, usagehistory, need to know, job position, connection type, time of day,method of authentication, client-system configuration, or the like.Network access rules may be developed by the enterprise facility 102, orpre-packaged by a supplier, and managed by the threat managementfacility 100 in conjunction with the administration facility 134.Network access rules and control may be responsible for determining if aclient facility 144 application should be granted access to a requestednetwork location. The network location may be on the same network as thefacility or may be on another network. In an embodiment, the networkaccess control may verify access rights for client facilities 144 fromwithin the network or may verify access rights of computer facilitiesfrom external networks. When network access for a client facility 144 isdenied, the network access control may send an information file to theclient facility 144, the information file may contain data or commandsthat may provide instructions for the remedial action facility 128. Theinformation sent by the network access facility 124 control may be adata file. The data file may contain a number of commands, definitions,instructions, or commands to be parsed and acted upon through theremedial action facility 128, or the like. The information sent by thenetwork access facility 124 control may be a command or command filethat the remedial action facility 128 may access and take action upon.

In an embodiment, the network access rules 124 may provide aninformation store to be accessed by the network access control. Thenetwork access rules facility 124 may include databases such as a blocklist, a black list, an allowed list, a white list, an unacceptablenetwork site database, an acceptable network site database, a networksite reputation database, or the like of network access locations thatmay or may not be accessed by the client facility 144. Additionally, thenetwork access rules facility 124 may incorporate rule evaluation; therule evaluation may parse network access requests and apply the parsedinformation to network access rules. The network access rule facility124 may have a generic set of rules that may be in support of anenterprise facility's 102 network access policies, such as denyingaccess to certain types of websites 158, controlling instant messenger162 accesses, or the like. Rule evaluation may include regularexpression rule evaluation, or other rule evaluation method forinterpreting the network access request and comparing the interpretationto the established rules for network access. In an embodiment, thenetwork access rules facility 124 may receive a rules evaluation requestfrom the network access control and may return the rules evaluation tothe network access control.

Similar to the threat definitions facility 114, the network access rulefacility 124 may provide updated rules and policies to the networkaccess rules facility 124. The network access rules facility 124 may bemaintained by the network administration facility 134 using the networkaccess rules facility 124 management. In an embodiment, the networkadministration facility 134 may be able to maintain a set of accessrules manually by adding rules, changing rules, deleting rules, or thelike. Additionally, the administration facility 134 may be able toretrieve predefined rule sets from a provider that may provide a set ofrules to be applied to an entire enterprise facility 102. The networkadministration facility 134 may be able to modify the predefined rulesas needed for a particular enterprise facility 102 using the networkaccess rules facility 124 management.

When a threat or policy violation is detected by the threat managementfacility 100, the threat management facility 100 may provide for aremedial action facility 128. Remedial action may take a plurality offorms, such as terminating or modifying an ongoing process orinteraction, sending a warning to a client or administration facility134 of an ongoing process or interaction, executing a program orapplication to remediate against a threat or violation, recordinteractions for subsequent evaluation, or the like. Remedial action maybe associated with an application that responds to information that aclient facility 144 network access request has been denied. In anembodiment, when the data file is received, remedial action may parsethe data file, interpret the various aspects of the data file, and acton the parsed data file information to determine actions to be taken onan application requesting access to a denied network location. In anembodiment, when the data file is received, remedial action may accessthe threat definitions to parse the data file and determine an action tobe taken on an application requesting access to a denied networklocation. In an embodiment, the information received from the facilitymay be a command or a command file. The remedial action facility maycarry out any commands that are received or parsed from a data file fromthe facility without performing any interpretation of the commands. Inan embodiment, the remedial action facility may interact with thereceived information and may perform various actions on a clientrequesting access to a denied network location. The action may be one ormore of continuing to block all requests to a denied network location, amalicious code scan on the application, a malicious code scan on theclient facility 144, quarantine of the application, terminating theapplication, isolation of the application, isolation of the clientfacility 144 to a location within the network that restricts networkaccess, blocking a network access port from a client facility 144,reporting the application to a administration facility 134, or the like.

Remedial action may be provided as a result of a detection of a threator violation. The detection techniques facility 130 may includemonitoring the enterprise facility 102 network or end-point devices,such as by monitoring streaming data through the gateway, across thenetwork, through routers and hubs, and the like. The detectiontechniques facility 130 may include monitoring activity and stored fileson computing facilities, such as on server facilities 142, desktopcomputers, laptop computers, other mobile computing devices, and thelike. Detection techniques, such as scanning a computer's stored files,may provide the capability of checking files for stored threats, eitherin the active or passive state. Detection techniques, such as streamingfile management, may provide the capability of checking files receivedat the network, gateway facility, client facility 144, and the like.This may provide the capability of not allowing a streaming file orportions of the streaming file containing malicious code from enteringthe client facility 144, gateway facility, or network. In an embodiment,the streaming file may be broken into blocks of information, and aplurality of virus identities may be used to check each of the blocks ofinformation for malicious code. In an embodiment, any blocks that arenot determined to be clear of malicious code may not be delivered to theclient facility 144, gateway facility, or network.

Verifying that the threat management facility 100 is detecting threatsand violations to established policy, may require the ability to testthe system, either at the system level or for a particular computingcomponent. The testing facility 118 may allow the administrationfacility 134 to coordinate the testing of the security configurations ofclient facility 144 computing facilities on a network. Theadministration facility 134 may be able to send test files to a set ofclient facility 144 computing facilities to test the ability of theclient facility 144 to determine acceptability of the test file. Afterthe test file has been transmitted, a recording facility may record theactions taken by the client facility 144 in reaction to the test file.The recording facility may aggregate the testing information from theclient facility 144 and report the testing information to theadministration facility 134. The administration facility 134 may be ableto determine the level of preparedness of the client facility 144computing facilities by the reported information. Remedial action may betaken for any of the client facility 144 computing facilities asdetermined by the administration facility 134; remedial action may betaken by the administration facility 134 or by the user of the clientfacility 144.

The threat research facility 132 may provide a continuously ongoingeffort to maintain the threat protection capabilities of the threatmanagement facility 100 in light of continuous generation of new orevolved forms of malware. Threat research may include researchers andanalysts working on known and emerging malware, such as viruses,rootkits a spyware, as well as other computer threats such as phishing,spam, scams, and the like. In embodiments, through threat research, thethreat management facility 100 may be able to provide swift, globalresponses to the latest threats.

The threat management facility 100 may provide threat protection to theenterprise facility 102, where the enterprise facility 102 may include aplurality of networked components, such as client facility 144, serverfacility 142, administration facility 134, firewall 138, gateway, hubs148, routers, threat management appliance 140, desktop users, mobileusers, and the like. In embodiments, it may be the end-point computersecurity facility 152, located on a computer's desktop, which mayprovide threat protection to a user, and associated enterprise facility102. The end-point computer security facility 152 may be an applicationloaded onto the computer platform or computer support component, wherethe application may accommodate the plurality of computer platformsand/or functional requirements of the component. For instance, a clientfacility 144 computer may be one of a plurality of computer platforms,such as Windows, Macintosh, Linux, and the like, where the end-pointcomputer security facility 152 may be adapted to the specific platform,while maintaining a uniform product and product services acrossplatforms. Additionally, components may have different functions toserve within the enterprise facility's 102 networked computer-basedinfrastructure. For instance, computer support components provided ashubs 148, routers, server facility 142, firewalls 138, and the like, mayrequire unique security application software to protect their portion ofthe system infrastructure, while providing an element in an integratedthreat management system that extends out beyond the threat managementfacility 100 to incorporate all computer resources under its protection.

The enterprise facility 102 may include a plurality of client facility144 computing platforms on which the end-point computer securityfacility 152 is adapted. A client facility 144 computing platform may bea computer system that is able to access a service on another computer,such as a server facility 142, via a network. This client facility 144server facility 142 model may apply to a plurality of networkedapplications, such as a client facility 144 connecting to an enterprisefacility 102 application server facility 142, a web browser clientfacility 144 connecting to a web server facility 142, an e-mail clientfacility 144 retrieving e-mail from an internet 154 service provider'smail storage servers 142, and the like. In embodiments, traditionallarge client facility 144 applications may be switched to websites,which may increase the browser's role as a client facility 144. Clients144 may be classified as a function of the extent to which they performtheir own processing. For instance, client facilities 144 are sometimesclassified as a fat client facility 144 or thin client facility 144. Thefat client facility 144, also known as a thick client facility 144 orrich client facility 144, may be a client facility 144 that performs thebulk of data processing operations itself, and does not necessarily relyon the server facility 142. The fat client facility 144 may be mostcommon in the form of a personal computer, where the personal computermay operate independent of any server facility 142. Programmingenvironments for fat clients 144 may include Curl, Delphi, Droplets,Java, win32, X11, and the like. Thin clients 144 may offer minimalprocessing capabilities, for instance, the thin client facility 144 mayprimarily provide a graphical user interface provided by an applicationserver facility 142, which may perform the bulk of any required dataprocessing. Programming environments for thin clients 144 may includeJavaScript/AJAX, ASP, JSP, Ruby on Rails, Python's Django, PHP, and thelike. The client facility 144 may also be a mix of the two, such asprocessing data locally, but relying on a server facility 142 for datastorage. As a result, this hybrid client facility 144 may providebenefits from both the fat client facility 144 type, such as multimediasupport and high performance, and the thin client facility 144 type,such as high manageability and flexibility. In embodiments, the threatmanagement facility 100, and associated end-point computer securityfacility 152, may provide seamless threat protection to the plurality ofclients 144, and client facility 144 types, across the enterprisefacility 102.

The enterprise facility 102 may include a plurality of server facility142, such as application servers 142, communications servers 142, fileservers 142, database servers 142, proxy servers 142, mail servers 142,fax servers 142, game servers 142, web servers 142, and the like. Aserver facility 142, which may also be referred to as a server facility142 application, server facility 142 operating system, server facility142 computer, or the like, may be an application program or operatingsystem that accepts client facility 144 connections in order to servicerequests from clients 144. The server facility 142 application may runon the same computer as the client facility 144 using it, or the serverfacility 142 and the client facility 144 may be running on differentcomputers and communicating across the network. Server facility 142applications may be divided among server facility 142 computers, withthe dividing depending upon the workload. For instance, under light loadconditions all server facility 142 applications may run on a singlecomputer and under heavy load conditions a single server facility 142application may run on multiple computers. In embodiments, the threatmanagement facility 100 may provide threat protection to serverfacilities 142 within the enterprise facility 102 as load conditions andapplication changes are made.

A server facility 142 may also be an appliance facility 140, where theappliance facility 140 provides specific services onto the network.Though the appliance facility 140 is a server facility 142 computer,that may be loaded with a server facility 142 operating system andserver facility 142 application, the enterprise facility 102 user maynot need to configure it, as the configuration may have been performedby a third party. In an embodiment, an enterprise facility 102 appliancemay be a server facility 142 appliance that has been configured andadapted for use with the threat management facility 100, and locatedwithin the facilities of the enterprise facility 102. The enterprisefacility's 102 threat management appliance may enable the enterprisefacility 102 to administer an on-site local managed threat protectionconfiguration, where the administration facility 134 may access thethreat resources through an interface, such as a web portal. In analternate embodiment, the enterprise facility 102 may be managedremotely from a third party, vendor, or the like, without an appliancefacility 140 located within the enterprise facility 102. In thisinstance, the appliance functionality may be a shared hardware productbetween pluralities of enterprises 102. In embodiments, the appliancefacility 140 may be located at the enterprise facility 102, where theenterprise facility 102 maintains a degree of control. In embodiments, ahosted service may be provided, where the appliance 140 may still be anon-site black box to the enterprise facility 102, physically placedthere because of infrastructure requirements, but managed by a thirdparty, vendor, or the like.

Simple server facility 142 appliances may also be utilized across theenterprise facility's 102 network infrastructure, such as switches,routers, wireless routers, hubs 148, gateways, print servers 142, netmodems, and the like. These simple server facility appliances may notrequire configuration by the enterprise facility 102, but may requireprotection from threats via an end-point computer security facility 152.These appliances may provide interconnection services within theenterprise facility 102 network, and therefore may advance the spread ofa threat if not properly protected.

One way for a client facility 144 to be protected from threats fromwithin the enterprise facility 102 network may be a personal firewall. Apersonal firewall may be an application that controls network traffic toand from a client, permitting or denying communications based on asecurity policy. Personal firewalls may be designed for use byend-users, which may result in protection for only the computer on whichit's installed. Personal firewalls may be able to control networktraffic by providing prompts each time a connection is attempted andadapting security policy accordingly. Personal firewalls may alsoprovide some level of intrusion detection, which may allow the softwareto terminate or block connectivity where it suspects an intrusion isbeing attempted. Other features that may be provided by a personalfirewall may include alerts about outgoing connection attempts, controlof program access to networks, hiding the client from port scans by notresponding to unsolicited network traffic, monitoring of applicationsthat may be listening for incoming connections, monitoring andregulation of incoming and outgoing network traffic, prevention ofunwanted network traffic from installed applications, reportingapplications that make connection attempts, reporting destinationservers with which applications may be attempting communications, andthe like. In embodiments, the personal firewall may be provided by thetreat management facility 100.

Another important component that may be protected by an end-pointcomputer security facility 152 is a network firewall facility 138, whichmay be a hardware or software device that may be configured to permit,deny, or proxy data through a computer network that has different levelsof trust in its source of data. For instance, an internal enterprisefacility 102 network may have a high level of trust, because the sourceof all data has been sourced from within the enterprise facility 102. Anexample of a low level of trust is the Internet 154, because the sourceof data may be unknown. A zone with an intermediate trust level,situated between the Internet 154 and a trusted internal network, may bereferred to as a “perimeter network”. Since firewall facilities 138represent boundaries between threat levels, the end-point computersecurity facility 152 associated with the firewall facility 138 mayprovide resources that may control the flow of threats at thisenterprise facility 102 network entry point. Firewall facilities 138,and associated end-point computer security facility 152, may also beassociated with a network node that may be equipped for interfacingbetween networks that use different protocols. In embodiments, theend-point computer security facility 152 may provide threat protectionin a plurality of network infrastructure locations, such as at theenterprise facility 102 network entry point, i.e. the firewall facility138 or gateway; at the server facility 142; at distribution pointswithin the network, i.e. the routers and hubs 148; at the desktop ofclient facility 144 computers; and the like. In embodiments, the mosteffective location for threat detection may be at the user's computerdesktop end-point computer security facility 152.

The interface between the threat management facility 100 and theenterprise facility 102, and through the appliance facility 140 toembedded end-point computer security facilities, may include a set oftools that may be the same for all enterprise implementations, but alloweach enterprise to implement different controls. In embodiments, thesecontrols may include both automatic actions and managed actions.Automatic actions may include downloads of the end-point computersecurity facility 152 to components of the enterprise facility 102,downloads of updates to existing end-point computer security facilitiesof the enterprise facility 102, uploaded network interaction requestsfrom enterprise facility 102 components to the threat managementfacility 100, and the like. In embodiments, automatic interactionsbetween the enterprise facility 102 and the threat management facility100 may be configured by the threat management facility 100 and anadministration facility 134 in the enterprise facility 102. Theadministration facility 134 may configure policy rules that determineinteractions, such as developing rules for accessing applications, as inwho is authorized and when applications may be used; establishing rulesfor ethical behavior and activities; rules governing the use ofentertainment software such as games, or personal use software such asIM 162 and VoIP 164; rules for determining access to enterprise facility102 computing resources, including authentication, levels of access,risk assessment, and usage history tracking; rules for when an action isnot allowed, such as whether an action is completely deigned or justmodified in its execution; and the like. The administration facility 134may also establish license management, which in turn may furtherdetermine interactions associated with a licensed application. Inembodiments, interactions between the threat management facility 100 andthe enterprise facility 102 may provide threat protection to theenterprise facility 102 by managing the flow of network data into andout of the enterprise facility 102 through automatic actions that may beconfigured by the threat management facility 100 or the administrationfacility 134.

Client facilities 144 within the enterprise facility 102 may beconnected to the enterprise facility 102 network by way of wired networkfacilities 148 or wireless network facilities 150. Client facilities 144connected to the enterprise facility 102 network via a wired facility148 or wireless facility 150 may receive similar protection, as bothconnection types are ultimately connected to the same enterprisefacility 102 network, with the same end-point computer security facility152, and the same threat protected enterprise facility 102 environment.Mobile wireless facility 150 clients 144, because of their ability toconnect to any wireless 150 network access point, may connect to theinternet 154 outside the enterprise facility 102, and therefore outsidethe threat-protected environment of the enterprise facility 102. In thisinstance the mobile client facility 144, if not for the presence of theend-point computer security facility 152 may experience a malware attackor perform actions counter to enterprise facility 102 establishedpolicies. In addition, there may be a plurality of ways for the threatmanagement facility 100 to protect the out-of-enterprise facility 102mobile client facility 144 that has an embedded end-point computersecurity facility 152, such as by providing URL filtering in personalrouters, using a web appliance as a DNS proxy, or the like. Mobileclient facilities 144 that are components of the enterprise facility 102but temporarily outside connectivity with the enterprise facility 102network, may be provided with the same threat protection and policycontrol as client facilities 144 inside the enterprise facility 102. Inaddition, mobile client facilities 144 may receive the same interactionsto and from the threat management facility 100 as client facilities 144inside the enterprise facility 102, where mobile client facilities 144may be considered a virtual extension of the enterprise facility 102,receiving all the same services via their embedded end-point computersecurity facility 152.

Interactions between the threat management facility 100 and thecomponents of the enterprise facility 102, including mobile clientfacility 144 extensions of the enterprise facility 102, may ultimatelybe connected through the internet 154. Threat management facility 100downloads and upgrades to the enterprise facility 102 may be passed fromthe firewalled networks of the threat management facility 100 through tothe end-point computer security facility 152 equipped components of theenterprise facility 102. In turn the end-point computer securityfacility 152 components of the enterprise facility 102 may upload policyand access requests back across the internet 154 and through to thethreat management facility 100. The Internet 154 however, is also thepath through which threats may be transmitted from their source. Thesenetwork threats may include threats from a plurality of sources,including websites 158, e-mail 160, IM 162, VoIP 164, applicationsoftware, and the like. These threats may attempt to attack a mobileenterprise facility 102 client facility 144 equipped with an end-pointcomputer security facility 152, but in embodiments, as long as themobile client facility 144 is embedded with an end-point computersecurity facility 152, as described above, threats may have no bettersuccess than if the mobile client facility 144 where inside theenterprise facility 102.

However, if the mobile client facility 144 where to attempt to connectinto an unprotected connection point, such as at a secondary location108 that is not a part of the enterprise facility 102, the mobile clientfacility 144 may be required to request network interactions through thethreat management facility 100, where contacting the threat managementfacility 100 may be performed prior to any other network action. Inembodiments, the client facility's 144 end-point computer securityfacility 152 may manage actions in unprotected network environments suchas when the client facility 144 is in a secondary location 108 orconnecting wirelessly 150 to a non-enterprise facility 102 wirelessinternet 154 connection, where the end-point computer security facility152 may dictate what actions are allowed, blocked, modified, or thelike. For instance, if the client facility's 144 end-point computersecurity facility 152 is unable to establish a secured connection to thethreat management facility 100, the end-point computer security facility152 may inform the user of such, and recommend that the connection notbe made. In the instance when the user chooses to connect despite therecommendation, the end-point computer security facility 152 may performspecific actions during or after the unprotected connection is made,including running scans during the connection period, running scansafter the connection is terminated, storing interactions for subsequentthreat and policy evaluation, contacting the threat management facility100 upon first instance of a secured connection for further actions andor scanning, restricting access to network and local resources, or thelike. In embodiments, the end-point computer security facility 152 mayperform specific actions to remediate possible threat incursions orpolicy violations during or after the unprotected connection.

The secondary location 108 may have no end-point computer securityfacilities 152 as a part of its computer components, such as itsfirewalls 138, servers 142, clients 144, hubs 148, wireless hubs 150,and the like. As a result, the computer components of the secondarylocation 108 may be open to threat attacks, and become potential sourcesof threats, as well as any mobile enterprise facility 102 clients 144that may be connected to the secondary location's 108 network. In thisinstance, these computer components may now unknowingly spread a threatto other components connected to the network.

Some threats may not come directly from the Internet 154, such as fromnon-enterprise facility 102 controlled mobile devices that arephysically brought into the enterprise facility 102 and connected to theenterprise facility 102 client facilities 144. The connection may bemade from direct connection with the enterprise facility's 102 clientfacility 144, such as through a USB port, or in physical proximity withthe enterprise facility's 102 client facility 144 such that a wirelessfacility 150 connection can be established, such as through a Bluetoothconnection. These physical proximity threats 110 may be another mobilecomputing device, a portable memory storage device, a mobilecommunications device, or the like, such as CDs and DVDs 170, memorystick 174, flash drive 174, external hard drive, cell phone 178, PDAs180, MP3 players, digital cameras, point-to-point devices, or the like.A physical proximity threat 110 may have been previously infiltrated bynetwork threats while connected to an unprotected network connectionoutside the enterprise facility 102, and when connected to theenterprise facility 102 client facility 144, pose a threat. Because oftheir mobile nature, physical proximity threats 110 may infiltratecomputing resources in any location, such as being physically broughtinto the enterprise facility 102 site, connected to an enterprisefacility 102 client facility 144 while that client facility 144 ismobile, plugged into an unprotected client facility 144 at a secondarylocation 108, and the like. A mobile device, once connected to anunprotected computer resource, may become a physical proximity threat110. In embodiments, the end-point computer security facility 152 mayprovide enterprise facility 102 computing resources with threatprotection against physical proximity threats 110, for instance, throughscanning the device prior to allowing data transfers, through securityvalidation certificates, through establishing a safe zone within theenterprise facility 102 computing resource to transfer data into forevaluation, and the like.

Now that the overall system has been described, we turn towards a set ofpolicy management embodiments. It should be understood that thefollowing policy management embodiments may be managed through a threatmanagement facility 100 along with other services, such as thosedescribed herein.

Controlling what applications are permitted to execute on a computingplatform is difficult due to the fact, at least in part, thatapplications resident on the computing platform and applications towhich the computing platform has access are always changing. A user ofsuch systems may, for example, update resident applications or add newsoftware to their computers by downloading software from a network (e.g.the internet) or through other conventional means (e.g. loading from aDVD, CD, memory drive, portable memory, memory stick, etc.). Inaddition, users may access applications on the Internet, or othernetwork, and controlling such access can be difficult to stop orcontrol. While there are many times that such users behavior may beacceptable, there are also many times where adding new applications,updating existing applications, or accessing Internet applications cancause problems. A prime example of an area where this can be problematicis in the corporate environment. A corporation may provide computers toits employees but it may want to restrict access to certain computerapplications, versions of applications, computer content or the like.Situations such as these are difficult to control because any user canadd or access applications that are not permitted by the corporation.

An aspect of the present invention relates to controlling access tosoftware applications on computing systems. A system and methodaccording to the principles of the present invention may includeproviding computing platforms with a policy facility such that thepolicy facility controls access to software applications and/or accessto provisions used to execute applications. The policy facility may beupdated through a policy update server to provide the most currentversion of the policy. This arrangement may be used to create a userfriendly but controlled access environment. The policy facility mayupdate automatically when the computing platform is connected to anetwork that provides access to the policy update server, it may beupdated at predetermined times or it may be updated based on anotherparameter. By keeping the policy facility updated, the computer may beprevented from accessing certain computer applications, but it should beable to access those applications that the user needs. Another benefitof a system and method according to the principles of the presentinvention is that, in certain embodiments, many user computing platforms(e.g. desktops, notebooks, palmtops, handhelds and the like) can bedelivered updated application access policies efficiently and theupdates can be verified much more easily than was ever provided before.An aspect of the present invention relates to identifying and updatingpolicy facilities with software application characteristics, categories,or the like from a policy network server. The policy network server mayprovide the information and/or updates to other network managementsystems to control the application execution. In other embodiments, thepolicy network server provides the information and/or updates to clientcomputing facilities (e.g. desktops, laptops, palmtops, handhelds andthe like) directly.

A managed service adapted to maintain policies, rules, analysisdatabases and application information to be used to control theexecution of applications on computing platforms may be provided as athird party vendor service (e.g. external to a corporation), as anenterprise system (e.g. managed internal to a corporation), or otherwiseprovided.

In an embodiment, the policy manager (as described in more detailelsewhere herein) may be updated from an external source (i.e. managedthrough a third party security platform provider) and it may also beupdated through internal corporate processes. For example, the internalIT manager may be provided with tools used to update the policies on allor some of the corporate computer systems. This arrangement may make iteasier for internal personnel to make changes to the policies but it mayalso allow certain policies to be managed through the third partyprovider. There may be a reconciliation engine in the policy manager toreconcile any conflict created by the two different sources of updates.There may also be a feedback mechanism such that changes made by theinternal personnel are transmitted back to the third party provider suchthat the third party provider can make the necessary changes to theirupdate database. In addition, the system may be equipped with a userfeedback module where the user can request changes to their policy. Thepolicy change request may be transmitted back to an internal and/orexternal resource for consideration and/or implementation. It should beunderstood that a third party managed threat management facility 100 mayprovide its services to a number of different corporate customers and itmay have separate update databases for each of such customers.

Another aspect of the present invention relates to the policy facilityitself. In embodiments, the policy facility may be configured to comparea selected application(s) to an identified application category,application list, application table, specifically identified applicationor other such reference to determine if interaction or execution of theselected application permitted. For example, a corporation may set anapplication interaction policy that restricts access to a category ofapplications, such as instant messaging applications, gamingapplications, imaging applications, video applications or othercategories of applications. Once the policy is set, individual computers(e.g. clients) may have their policy facilities updated with therestriction. When a user attempts to run or otherwise interact with anapplication or when an existing application attempts to run or otherwiseinteract with another application, the policy facility may be consulted.The policy facility, in certain embodiments, may analyze the applicationto see if it relates to the restricted category of applications. Inother embodiments, the policy facility may determine if there is anassociation between the application and another form of access controlinformation (e.g. a particular application listing, a list ofapplications, a table of applications, a database of applications, acategory of applications, or the like).

An aspect of the present invention relates to a combination of computersecurity protection and computer or corporate policy control. Inembodiments, the policy facility may detect applications and/or contentfor threats (e.g. viruses, potentially malicious application, spyware,etc.) as well as for applications that, while they do not necessarilypose threats, are identified as restricted.

Referring to FIG. 2, an embodiment of a process flow adapted todetermine if an application should be executed on a computing facilityis shown. In an embodiment, when a user requests the execution of asoftware application, the application may be checked against a databaseto determine if the application should be executed, blocked fromexecution, or have the execution behavior of the application modified.The database may be provided by a managed service. Additionally, therequested application execution may be checked against policies todetermine if the application should be blocked based on the enterprisesapplication policy. The database may include information such asapplication names, application characteristics, categories ofapplications, indicia of particular applications, or the like. Ananalysis facility may access the database to determine if there is amatch between the requested application and the provided database. Inreferring to the flow diagram of FIG. 2, a user of a computer facilitymay request the execution of an application 202, such as a wordprocessor, game, browser or the like. The application may reside on theuser's computer device, on a network server, on a removable storagedevice, or the like for example. The application execution request 202may be intercepted 204 by the analysis facility to determine if theapplication is permitted to execute by comparing information pertainingto the requested application 202 against the provided database thatcontains an indication of the permitted and/or restricted applications(e.g. a listing of permitted or blocked applications). A file analysis208 may be performed by comparing information about the requestedapplication 202 to information within the application database. In anembodiment, the analysis facility may intercept the applicationexecution request 204 and perform the comparison of the requestedapplication to the database to identify & classify the application 210.A status indication may be returned to the analysis facility. In anembodiment, the analysis facility may then check the returned statusagainst the enterprise policy file to determine if the applicationshould be blocked based on the policy set by the enterprise. If the fileanalysis 208 indicates that the application should be blocked, the usermay receive notification that the application will not be run 212. If itis determined that the application request is allowed, the applicationexecution may resume 214. In an embodiment, even if the application isexecuted 214, there may be restrictions placed on the applicationcharacteristics or functions. For example, a user may request theexecution of a game, the execution may be permitted by the analysisfacility, but the game may be restricted to executing on the user'scomputer device without permitting access any network resources. Thereare many types of restrictions that may be placed on an application inthe event it is permitted to operate. The restrictions may relate toexternal resource access (e.g. access to network resources), internalfunctions (e.g. access to particular functions otherwise provided by theapplication) and the like.

Referring to FIG. 3, an embodiment of a flow chart describing thedevelopment of the application analysis database and providing thedatabase to user computer device is shown. In an embodiment, a managedservice 304 may develop and maintain one or more databases ofapplication characteristics. These may define specific files orcharacteristics may define a complete class of applications, or sets ofapplication behavior. Additionally, the application characteristics maybe categorized by application type that may include viruses, worms,adware, games, instant messaging clients, word processors and the like.The database 308 may be a set of files (e.g. data files), which may bedelivered to each client computer 310. Each client 310 may have a copyof all or part of the database 308 created by the managed service 304.In an embodiment, the database 308 information may be developed fromenterprise announcements of application releases, from searching theInternet for releases of applications, by submissions from customers ofthe managed service, by submission from the public to the managedservice, or the like. The managed service 304 may continually performthe application information gathering and updating the file analysisdatabases 308 as new applications are determined. In an embodiment,policies 302 may be set by an enterprise to configure the types ofsoftware applications it wishes to prevent from operating on usercomputing facilities. The system administrator may have access to a listof categories and specific applications, for which policy 302 may beset. The administrator may then create a policy 302 of categories andapplications that may be restricted. This policy 302 may be stored in apolicy file (e.g. a policy data file), which may also be delivered tothe client computer. In an embodiment, the policy 302 need not beupdated when the file analysis database 308 is updated. The policy 302may be changed as the enterprise's policy towards different softwareapplications change. The information in the file analysis database 308may be information such as computer application names, indicia of suchapplications, application associations and the like. The information inthe file analysis database 308 may be set manually by collecting listsof application information to describe the restricted or permittedapplications. The information in the database may be set by an automaticprocess that defines the characteristics of an application. Theinformation in the database may be set through a combination ofautomatic and manual processes as herein described. After the fileanalysis database is updated 308, the managed service 304 may make thenew computer file analysis database available for customers to download.Depending on the particular corporate policies 302, only certaininformation from the database may be acted on by the computing facility310. For example, the policy 302 may restrict all voice over IPapplications from operating on corporate computers so informationidentifying all such applications may be provided by the policy filedownloaded to the user's computing facility. Once loaded with thisinformation, the information may be used to block the execution ofrelated applications per the process described in connection with FIG. 2or as described otherwise herein. In an embodiment, the managed servicemay be a web service for which the customers have access. The customersmay download the updated analysis databases continually at a presetfrequency. In an embodiment, the continual downloading of the updatedanalysis databases may ensure that the customer computers will have thelatest available application information. In another embodiment, thecustomer may be able to download the updated analysis databases manually(e.g. at the customers request) to any one of the clients or networkservers.

In embodiments, the analysis database may contain categories ofapplications that have restrictions. For example, a category may definea class or type of application (e.g. all messaging applications),therefore when any messaging application is requested, the informationobtained from the policy analysis database may be used to associate therequested messaging application to the general category and prevent theexecution of the application if it matches the category information. Inan embodiment, the category may be determined automatically using analgorithm to match the application to a category within the policyanalysis database. The algorithm may make the determination if arequested application is part of certain category. In anotherembodiment, the determination may be manual where a person within themanaged service may manually associate applications into categories.Once the application/category affiliations are established it becomesstraightforward to identify the applications that need to be restrictedbased on a corporate policy that identifies specific categories torestrict. For example, if the corporate policy restricts access to allinstant messaging applications, the corresponding category can bereviewed in the database and all of the related applicationidentification information (e.g. yahoo IM, AOL IM, MSN IM, etc.) can bedownloaded to the user's computing facility for use in a restrictionprocess (e.g. as depicted in FIG. 2)

While many embodiments herein describe methodologies that involvelisting applications, or related information, that are restricted insome way, it should be understood that information relating to approvedapplications may be used in much the same way and this use ofinformation is intended to be encompassed by the present invention. Forexample, while some embodiments indicate that a list of restrictedapplication information may be downloaded to a user's computing facilityto restrict access, it will be obvious to one skilled in the art thatinformation pertaining to acceptable applications may be downloaded tothe user's computing facility to control the applications that arepermitted to be operated; and these embodiments are encompassed by thepresent invention.

In an embodiment, the analysis databases may be related to the policy ofrestricted applications and not to a particular user or group of users.For example, the policy may be set to prevent the execution of amessaging application on a enterprises network. Regardless of the userrequesting the execution of the messaging application, the applicationmay be prevented from executing.

In another embodiment, the application execution prevention may be basedon hierarchy within the enterprise where users within a certain part ofa company may be able to use an application. For example, a supportdepartment may be permitted to use messaging applications to setup chatareas with customers but the messaging applications may be blocked forthe remainder of the enterprise. Additionally, application execution maybe prevented based on the type of connection a computer device may have.For example, a computer device with a direct internal connection (e.g.client computer device) may have a certain set of applications blockedwhile a virtual private network (VPN) connected computer device from aremote location may have a different set of applications blocked fromexecution.

In an embodiment, the policy analysis databases may be related to theconfiguration of the user's computer device. The policy analysisdatabases may contain information that may permit the execution ofapplications if a certain configuration exists on the computer device.For example, the application may be permitted to execute if the computerdevice has virus protection software active. The active virus protectionsoftware may need to be of a particular version or the virus definitionsare of a certain date. If the proper configuration conditions are notmet, the application may be prevented from executed.

As described above, the execution of application may be based on theunwanted network traffic that the application may create. If theapplication creates unwanted network traffic that may use up part of thenetwork bandwidth, and therefore interfere with other networkapplications, the application may be prevented from execution. Forexample, Voice over IP applications may require a significant amount ofa network's bandwidth and the policy analysis database may provideinformation to prevent the Voice over IP application from executing.

Additionally, the application may be prevented from executing anapplication to increase the security of the network. The enterprise mayhave developed email rules to exclude certain types of attachments frombeing sent from or received at the enterprise email accounts, but usersmay receive the same excluded attachments with a messaging application.The policy analysis databases may prevent the execution of the messagingapplication to prevent the excluded files from entering or leaving thenetwork through the messaging application.

In an embodiment, the application execution may not be blocked, but maybe executed with restrictions. Those restrictions may be enforced byanother security module, such as a firewall. For example, the messagingapplication may be permitted to execute, but the sending and receivingof files may be blocked and therefore preventing unwanted files frombeing sent or received using the messaging application.

FIG. 4 illustrates an application execution policy platform 400according to the principles of the present invention. The platform 400may include a policy management network server 402 that handlesinformation relating to file analysis database 430 and security analysisdatabase 442. The policy management network server 402 may have a userinterface that permits a user to store, remove or otherwise updatepolicies relating to file management and security management. The policymanagement network server 402 may provide information relating toapplication management or security management to a policy update module404. The policy update module 404 may be adapted to periodically, orotherwise, update various computer facilities with the applicationmanagement and security information. For example, the policy updatemodule may be adapted to update at least one enterprise network 408and/or client 414 device that may be associated with the enterprisenetwork 408.

In a similar manner, a security management network server 432 may handleinformation related to a security analysis 434 database; the securityanalysis database 434 may be substantially the same as the securityanalysis database 442 in the policy management network server 402. In anembodiment, the security management network server 432 may provide thesecurity analysis database 434 to the policy management network server402, may supplement the policy management network server 430, or mayprovide security database information instead of the policy managementnetwork server 402. The security management network server may be athird party server for providing security information to the policymanagement network server 402, the enterprise network 408, and/orclients 414. The security management network server 432 may provideinformation relating to security management or security management to asecurity update module 404 that may be adapted to provide the securityinformation to at least one enterprise network 408 or clients 414 thatmay be associated with the enterprise network.

Analysis facilities (e.g. security analysis facility 440A and fileanalysis facility 424A) within the enterprise network 408 may access thereceived file analysis and security databases to control the executionof applications within the enterprise network 408. The analysisfacilities may also access enterprise policy information that may beprovided by a polity manager 112. A system administrator 134 of theenterprise network 408 may determine enterprise application policiesthat may be in addition or modify the file and security databases storedin the enterprise network. The policy manager 112 may have an interfacethat permits the system administrator 134 to view and modify the fileand security databases of the enterprise network 408.

When an application execution is requested on the enterprise network308, the security and file analysis facilities may intercept theexecution request and apply the combined file/security databaseinformation and policy information to determine if the applicationshould be permitted to execute. The analysis facilities may analyzecharacteristics of the application code and match these characteristicswith characteristics and categories within the file and securitydatabases. The analysis facilities may be able to control theapplication execution for any application associated with the enterprisenetwork 408 such as an enterprise application 420, another networkapplication 422, or a client application 418.

The client 414 computer devices that may be associated with theenterprise network 408 may have the same, or substantially the same,security and file analysis facilities and databases that reside on theenterprise network 408. For client 414 executed applications, the fileand security analysis facilities may act in a similar manner as theenterprise network 408 file and security analysis facilities. If a userattempts to execute an application from a client 414 computer (e.g.client application 418, enterprise application 420, or other networkapplication 422), the client 414 analysis facilities may perform theapplication analysis instead of the enterprise network analysisfacilities to determine if the application should be executed. Theclient 414 analysis databases may be updated by the enterprise network308 or the update modules 404 and 438. The clients 414 may receiveanalysis database updates directly from the update modules 404 and 438based on update rules established and communicated from the enterprisenetwork. Additionally, the enterprise network 408 may provide theclients 414 with the policy information that was established by thepolicy manager 112.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 4, a system or method according to thepresent invention may include a policy management network server 402.The policy management network server 402 may store and maintain at leastone file analysis database 430 that may include information used tocontrol the execution of applications. The file analysis database 430may include information that relates to the characteristics of theapplication, a categorization of applications, names of applications, orother information indicative of an application or application type. Thepolicy management network server 402 may also store and maintain atleast one security analysis database that may include characteristics ofpotentially malicious application (e.g. virus definitions, spamdefinitions, adware definitions, information relating to such content),categorization of potentially malicious application, or the like for thecontrol of potentially malicious application execution on a computerdevice.

The policy management network server 402 may also receive informationfrom a security management network server 432 that may provideadditional potentially malicious application information, to the policymanagement network server 402. In embodiments, the security managementnetwork server 432 provides all or substantially all of such informationto the policy management network server 402.

In an embodiment, the policy management network server 402 may providethe application characteristics, categorization, and the like for alltypes of applications to be controlled on computing facilities, computernetworks, clients, or the like. In an embodiment, the policy managementnetwork server 402 may work in coordination with the security managementnetwork server 432 to provide all the necessary applicationcharacteristics, categorizations, or the like that are to be controlled.In an embodiment, the security analysis database 442 of the policymanagement network server 402 may be the same as the security analysisdatabase 434 of the security management network server 432. In anembodiment, the security analysis database 442 of the policy managementnetwork server 402 may be different than the security analysis database434 of the security management network server 432.

A policy update module 404 may provide the update coordination of thepolicy management network server 402 information to an enterprisenetwork 408. Additionally, the policy update module 404 may provideupdate coordination directly between a client 414 and the policymanagement network server 402. The policy update module 404 may provideupdating to both the enterprise network 408 and the clients 414.

In an embodiment, the policy update module 404 may be a stand aloneapplication, may be part of the policy management network server 402,may be part of the enterprise network 408, may be part of the clients414, or the like.

In an embodiment, the policy update module 404 may push information tothe enterprise network 408 and/or clients 414, the enterprise network408 and/or clients 414 may pull information from the policy managementnetwork server 402, there may be a combination of pushing and pulling ofinformation between the policy management network server 402, enterprisenetwork 408, and clients 414, or the like. For example, the enterprisenetwork 408 and/or clients 414 may pull information from the policymanagement network server 402 may requesting the information using thepolicy update module 404; the request may be based on a certain timeperiod, by a certain time, by a date, on demand, or the like. In anotherexample, the policy management network server may push the informationto the enterprise network 408 and/or clients 414 by providingnotification that there are updates available for download and thentransmitting the information.

In an embodiment, the combination of the security management networkserver 432 and security update module 438 may function substantially thesame as the policy management network server 402 and policy updatemodule 404 by providing information to the enterprise network 408 andthe clients 414 in a push or pull method. In an embodiment, the securityupdate module 438 may be part of the security management network server432, enterprise network 408, clients 414, or the like.

In an embodiment, the policy update module 404 and the security updatemodule 438 may work in concert to provide all the needed information tothe enterprise network 408 and/or clients 414 for control of applicationexecution. In an embodiment, the policy update module 404 and securityupdate module 438 may be combined into a single update module.

In an embodiment, the enterprise network 408 may receive informationfrom the policy management network server 402 and/or the securitymanagement network server 432 to provide definition of applications tobe controlled. The received policy and security information may be inthe form of a database, a relational database, a table, an XML file, anASCII file, a flat file, an SQL database, or other data file. The policyand security information that may be downloaded from the policymanagement network server 402 and security management network server 432may be used as received, may be modified, may be reconfigured, or thelike by the enterprise network 308 for use in controlling the executionof applications.

In an embodiment, there may be analysis facilities that may access thepolicy and security information to analyze application executionrequest. There may be a file analysis facility 424A that may access theprovided file analysis database 430 to determine if a requestedapplication should execute (e.g. through a process as described inconnection with FIG. 2 and otherwise herein). There may be a securityanalysis facility 440A that may access the provided security analysisdatabase 442 to determine if an application is malware and if theapplication execution should be blocked.

In an embodiment, the enterprise network 408 may only provide storagefor the policy and security databases and the file and security analysisfacilities may access the stored databases to analyze the requestedapplication execution.

Additionally, the file analysis database 430 and security analysisdatabase 442 stored on the enterprise network 408 may be configured forthe purposes of the particular enterprise network 408. A systemadministrator 134 may use a policy manager 112 to create rules,configurations, modifications, or the like of the file and securitydatabases to meet the requirements of a particular enterprise. Forexample, the file analysis database 430 may have characteristics andcategories of all the versions of a word processing application and theenterprise may permit the use of one particular version of the wordprocessing application. The system administrator 134 may use the policymanager 112 to indicate the particular version may be allowed orindicate the particular versions may not be allowed to execute. In anembodiment, the system administrator 134 may use the policy manager tocreate and maintain a policy database that may be used with the fileanalysis database 430 and security analysis database 442. The analysisfacilities may combine the information in the policy manager 112 fileswith the analysis databases to create the enterprise's policy ofexecutable applications. In another embodiment, the policy manager 112may be used to directly modify or reconfigure the file analysis database430 and security analysis database 442 to meet the policies of theparticular enterprise.

In an embodiment, the policy manager 112 may be a stand-aloneapplication or may be part of the enterprise network 408 as indicated bythe dotted box.

In an embodiment, the file analysis facility 424A and security analysisfacility 440A may determine if an enterprise application 420, othernetwork application 422, or other enterprise network 408 controlledapplication should be executed (e.g. through a process as described inconnection with FIG. 2 and otherwise herein).

An example of the file analysis facility 424A, and in a similar mannerthe security analysis facility 440A, determining if a file should beexecuted may include the following method. There may be an analysis of acomputer file or other file sample. The file may be filtered andunpacked if necessary. A checksum test may be preformed. Properties maybe extracted from the file and a sequence may be generated from thefile. Sequencing technology or genotype technology may disassemble thebinary executable file to recreate functional blocks of the applicationcode. These functional blocks may include sequence of applicationprogram interface (API) calls, string references, and the like which mayillustrate the function and execution flow of the program.Identification of functional blocks may provide a high level view of thefunctionality of a file regardless of binary compilation of theapplication. Different types of functionality (classified as genes, forexample) may be extracted from the sequenced blocks. Genes may bedefined using a genotype language. Each gene may describe a differentbehavior or characteristic of the file. The genes may be matched againstthe sequence data to identify which genes may be present within thefile. The file may then be categorized. Genes or characteristics may begrouped into phenotypes. Phenotypes may represent a certain class ofapplication. The phenotype descriptions may be matched against the genecombinations extracted from the file. An output may be generated. Forexample, the most significant phenotype may be reported. Alternativelyand/or in addition, all identified phenotypes, genotypes andclassifications may be reported. Reporting may include generating and/orediting a log file, printing an output, emailing an output, generatingan audible output, generating a visual output, facsimile transmission ofan output, electronic storage of an output, or the like. In addition toreporting, an output may include stopping the executing of theapplication.

Using this method, different versions of applications may be determined,entire classes of applications may be determined, or the like. Thisanalysis method may be able to determine the difference betweendifferent versions of an application and therefore may provide thesystem administrator with the ability of blocking the execution ofcertain versions of an application. This method may also be able toidentify a general category of application and block all the differentversions of the application type from executing. For example, the fileanalysis facility 324A may be able to block the execution of allmessaging applications based on the application characteristics.Therefore, application lists are not required to block the execution ofthe application, the characteristics are determined and then compared tothe analysis databases to determine if the application may be allowed toexecute. This may provide a level of control to the system administrator134 by not having to know every different executable application name toblock all of a type of application. For example, the systemadministrator 134 may be able to block all messaging applicationswithout knowing all the different application executable names. Thecharacteristics of the messaging application may be determined andcompared to the characteristics of a messaging category within theanalysis databases to block an entire class of application. The blockingof entire class of application also may stop users from installingunauthorized applications for use on a particular client 414. If thecharacteristics of the unauthorized application matches one of theblocked categories, the unauthorized application may be blocked.

In an embodiment, the file analysis facility 424A and security analysisfacility 440A may use the analysis database files that have beenreceived from the policy manager network server 402 and securitymanagement network server 432 or the analysis facilities may usedatabase files that have been modified upon by the policy manager 112.In another embodiment, there may be analysis databases and policymanager 112 databases that the analysis facilities may use incombination to determine if an application should execute.

In an embodiment, there may be a plurality of clients 414 that areconnected to the enterprise network 408. The clients may be able toaccess applications through the enterprise network 408 such as othernetwork applications 422, enterprise applications 420, as well as clientapplications 418 that may stored on the client 414 computer devices. Theother network applications 422 may include applications on the Internet,intranet applications, LAN applications, WAN applications, peer-to-peerapplications, or the like. In an embodiment, applications that theclient 414 may require the enterprise network to execute may access theenterprise network 408 file analysis facility 424A and security analysisfacility 440A to determine if an application should execute. In anembodiment, client applications 418 may use client stored file analysisfacility 424B and security analysis facility 440B to determine if anapplication should be executed.

In an embodiment, the client 414 file analysis facility 424B andsecurity analysis facility 440B may be substantially the same as theenterprise network 408 file analysis facility 424A and security analysisfacility 440A. In an embodiment, the enterprise network 408 may transmita copy of the file analysis facility 424A, security analysis facility440A, and all associated analysis databases to the clients 444 on thenetwork. In an embodiment, the clients 414 may also receive a copy ofthe policy manager 112 files that may modify the analysis databases forthe particular enterprise.

In an embodiment, in a similar manner as the enterprise network 408described previously, the client 414 may receive or request analysisdatabase updates from the policy update module 404, security updatemodule 438, or the like. In another embodiment, the client 414 mayreceive the updated analysis databases from the enterprise network 414after the enterprise network has received updated files from the policyupdate monitor 404 and security update monitor 438.

In an embodiment, communication between the client 414 and the updatemodules may be determined by an update rule provided by the enterprisenetwork 408; the rules may be developed by the system administrator 134using the policy manager 112. For example, the enterprise network 408may provide a rule for the client 414 to check for analysis databases atcertain time periods. As part of the client updating process, the clientmay report to the enterprise network that a new update has beeninstalled; the report information may include the install date, versionnumber, version date, client identification, and the like. This mayprovide a method for the system administrator to verify that the clients414 are updated to the most recent versions of the analysis databases.

In an embodiment, after the client 414 has received an updated analysisdatabase, the client 414 may apply the policy information provided bythe policy manager 112 to configure the analysis databases to theenterprise policies and procedures for executing applications.

In an embodiment, the client 414 may receive analysis file updates froma staging server within the enterprise network 408 or may directly fromthe managed service 304. Additionally the system administrator 134 mayprovide enterprise policy rules to the staging server and the individualclients 418 may pull the updated analysis databases and policy rulesfrom the staging server.

While embodiments have been described where various functionalities areperformed in various functional blocks, one skilled in the art wouldappreciate that the various functionalities may be embodied in a singlefacility or multiple facilities and all such variations are encompassedby the present invention. For example the enterprise network securityanalysis facility 440A may be combined with the file analysis facility424A into a single facility or multiple analysis facilities. In the samemanner, the client security analysis facility 440B may be combined withthe file analysis facility 424B into a single analysis facility or theymay be separate. The security analysis database 442 and file analysisdatabase 430 may be combined into a single database on the policymanagement server 402, enterprise network 402, and clients 414, or theymay be provided separately. Additionally, the policy management networkserver 402 and security management network server 432 along with thepolicy update module 404 and security update module 438 may be combinedinto single servers and modules or separated as needed.

In an embodiment, the policy management network server 402 may be anytype of network server for storing, distributing, updating, orperforming other such processes on the file analysis databases 430,security analysis databases 442, or other related facilities. In anembodiment, the policy management network server 402 may be any type ofserver including an enterprise network server, web server, file server,or other server type that operates on a LAN, WAN, Internet, intranet, orthe like.

In an embodiment, the policy management network server 402 may includepolicy management tools, user interfaces, file analysis databases 430,security analysis databases 442, management of upload and download offiles, enterprise network 408 and client 414 identification services, orthe like. In an embodiment, the management tools and interfaces mayallow a server owner to manage the file analysis databases 430, managethe security analysis databases 442, set distribution of the analysisdatabases, and the like. For example, the service owner may modify thefile analysis database 430 to include new categories, change categories,delete categories, or the like and then determine when the new fileanalysis database 430 may be available for distribution. In anembodiment, the policy management network server 402 may notifyenterprise networks 408 and clients 414 of an available file analysisdatabase 430, may wait for the enterprise networks 408 and clients 414to request the file analysis database, or the like.

In an embodiment, the file analysis database 430 may be any type ofrepository that stores information in a retrievable format (e.g. arelational database, flat file, SQL database, XML, file, ASCII file,table, or the like). In an embodiment, the file analysis database 330may contain information relating to software applications that areintended to be controlled on another computing facility (e.g. theenterprise network 308, client 314, or the like). In an embodiment, thesoftware application information may include indicia of the application,characteristics of the application, categorization of applications,application names, application execution names, lower level code thatidentifies the application, or other such information relating to theidentification of a particular piece of software, its version, categoryor other characterization. The category may represent a certain class ofsoftware (e.g. word processing software, database software,communication software, instant messaging software, email software, smssoftware, spreadsheet software, gaming software, image software, videosoftware, multi-media software, presentation software, device driver,software, device application software, browser software, financialsoftware, etc.). The categorization relate to a combination of genesused to describe or identify a class of software program for example.

In an embodiment, the security analysis database 442 may be any type ofrepository that stores information in a retrievable format (e.g. arelational database, flat file, SQL database, XML, file, ASCII file,table, or the like.) In an embodiment, the security analysis database342 may contain information on potentially malicious applications and/orcontent (e.g. virus information, spyware information, spam information,phishing information, etc.). This information may be used to protectassociated computing facilities (e.g. enterprise network 408, client414, or the like). In an embodiment, the potentially maliciousapplication information may include characteristics of an application,categorization of applications, potentially malicious application names,potentially malicious application execution names, potentially maliciousapplication definitions or the like. The categorization may represent acertain class of potentially malicious application software. Thecategorization may be a combination of genes used to describe oridentify a class of software program.

The security management network server 432 may be any type of networkserver for storing, distributing, updating, or otherwise processinginformation related to the of security analysis databases 434. In anembodiment, the security management network server 432 may be any typeof server that may include a enterprise network server, web server, fileserver, or similar device adapted to operate on a network, LAN, WAN,Internet, intranet, or the like.

In an embodiment, the server management network server 432 may includepolicy management tools, user interfaces, security analysis databases434, a management facility for the management of upload and download offiles, enterprise network 408, client 414 identification services,and/or other such facilities. In an embodiment, the management tools andinterfaces may allow a server owner to manage the security analysisdatabases 434, set distribution of the security analysis databases 430,and the like. For example, the server owner may modify the securityanalysis database 434 to include new categories, change categories,delete categories, or the like and then determine when the new securityanalysis database 434 may be available for distribution. In anembodiment, the security management network server 432 may notifyenterprise networks 408 and/or clients 414 of an available securityanalysis database 434, it may wait for the enterprise networks 408and/or clients 414 to request the file analysis database, or performanother similar process.

In an embodiment, the security analysis database 434 may be any type ofrepository for the storage of information in a retrievable format (e.g.a relational database, flat file, SQL database, XML file, ASCII file,table, or the like). In an embodiment, the security analysis database334 may contain information on potentially malicious applications thatmay be controlled at a related computing facility (e.g. at theenterprise network 408, client 414, or the like). In an embodiment, thepotentially malicious application information may includecharacteristics of an application, categorization of applications,potentially malicious application names, potentially maliciousapplication execution names, potentially malicious applicationdefinitions or the like. The categorization may represent a certainclass of potentially malicious software. The categorization may be acombination of genes used to describe or identify a class of softwareprogram.

In an embodiment, the policy update module 404 may manage thetransmission of the file analysis database 430 and security analysisdatabase 442 between the policy management network server 402,enterprise network 408, and clients 414. In an embodiment, the policyupdate module 404 may be incorporated into the policy management networkserver 402, the enterprise network 408, clients 414, or the like. In oneembodiment, the policy update module 404 may determine when an analysisdatabase has been updated and may indicate to the enterprise network 408and/or clients 414 that there may be updates available.

In another embodiment, the policy update module 404 may receive arequest from the enterprise network 408 and/or clients 414 to determineif there may be updated analysis databases. The policy update module 404may communicate with the policy management network server 402 todetermine if there are updates available. If there are updates, thepolicy update module 404 may retrieve the updates from the policymanagement network server 402 and transmit them to the requesting device(e.g. enterprise network 408 or client 414).

In an embodiment, the security update module 438 may manage thetransmission of the security analysis database 434 between the securitymanagement network server 402, enterprise network 408, and clients 414.In an embodiment, the security update module 438 may be incorporatedinto the security management network server 432, the enterprise network408, clients 414, or the like. In one embodiment, the security updatemodule 438 may determine when an analysis database has been updated andmay indicate to the enterprise network 408 and/or clients 414 that theremay be updates available.

In another embodiment, the security update module 438 may receive arequest from the enterprise network 408 and/or clients 414 to determineif there may be updated security analysis databases 434. The securityupdate module 438 may communicate with the security management networkserver 432 to determine if there are updates available. If there areupdates, the security update module 438 may retrieve the updates fromthe security management network server 432 and transmit them to therequesting device (e.g. enterprise network 408 or client 414).

The enterprise network 408 may be any type of network for providingnetwork services to clients 414 or other enterprise network 408connected computer devices. In an embodiment, the enterprise network 408may be any type of network that may include an enterprise networkserver, a web server, a file server, a router, a gateways, or the likethat may operate on a LAN, WAN, Internet, intranet, or the like.

In an embodiment, enterprise network 408 may include policy managementtools, user interfaces, databases, security systems, management ofupload and download of files, client 414 identification services, or thelike. In an embodiment, the management tools and interfaces may allow anetwork administrator 134 to manage the manner in which the networkinteracts with other computer devices within the enterprise network 408and remote to the enterprise network 408.

The following example shows an embodiment of preventing potentiallymalicious applications from executing using application characteristics.It should be understood that the same method may be used to prevent theexecution of any application. Additionally, the following methods may beperformed on both a network server or on a client computer device. In anembodiment, the enterprise network 408 may include the security analysisfacility 440A that may use the security analysis database 442 to detectand prevent the execution of potentially malicious applications. Thesecurity analysis facility 440A may perform a number of steps within amethod for determining if an application is a potentially maliciousapplication; the steps may include the following. A first step may beanalysis of a computer file or other sample to be check is commenced. Atstep two the file may be filtered. For example, one or more files may bescreened for efficiency reasons. If a file is packed, for example, apotentially malicious application detection system may spend more timechecking the file. If a file passes a checksum test, for example, thepotentially malicious application detection system may not furtherexamine the file.

In a third step, properties may be extracted from the file. In certainembodiments, the file is unpacked if necessary. For example, potentiallymalicious application may be obfuscated using run-time packers, whichrender static analysis of code difficult. A variety of run-time packersmay use many levels of encryption and/or a variety of compressionalgorithms. Unpacking technology may use a dynamic language to unpackthe file into a state where the file and its contents can be sequenced.Then, a sequence is generated from the file. Sequencing technology orgenotype technology may disassemble the binary executable file torecreate functional blocks of the potentially malicious applicationcode. These functional blocks may include sequences of applicationprogram interface (API) calls, string references, etc., which illustratethe function and execution flow of the program. While various instancesof potentially malicious applications may use common code and similartechniques, the resulting compiled bytes can look very different.Changing the compiler or compiler options can produce a completelydifferent binary file. Identification of functional blocks may provide ahigh level view of the functionality of a file regardless of binarycompilation.

Different types of functionality (classified as genes, for example) maybe extracted from the sequenced blocks. Genes may be defined using agenotype language, for example. Each gene may describe a differentbehavior or characteristic of potentially malicious applications orother file. For example, potentially malicious applications may copyitself to a %SYSTEM% directory. Therefore, a gene may be created toidentify this functionality by matching the sequence of API calls andthe strings that are referenced.

Genes may be matched against the sequence data to identify genes presentin the file. For example, a file may include the following genes:

AGOBO-VU.PEE

UPX—UPX layer

Morphine-B—Morphine layer

NoComp—No company information

Shtdwn—Shutdown functionality

SockSend—Socket based activity

RunKey—Sets a run key

Exec—Executes other programs

Priv—Changes privileges

CopySys—Copies itself to the system directory

AVList—Contains a list of AV products

EnumProc—Enumerates processes

WrProc—Writes to other processes

Listen—Listens on a port

RmThread—Creates remote threads

IRC—IRC references

Host—References the hosts file

CreateServ—Creates a service

StartServ—Starts up a service

EnumTerm—Enumerates and terminates processes

WebList—Contains a list of web addresses

In the forth step, the file may be classified. Genes or characteristicsmay be grouped into phenotypes. Phenotypes may represent a certain classof threat. The class type may range from suspicious to specific (such asBanking Trojan, IRC Bot, etc.). Phenotype descriptions may be matchedagainst the gene combinations extracted from the file. For example, aphenotype to match an IRC Bot potentially malicious file (a set ofscripts or an independent program that connects to an Internet RelayChat (IRC) and may perform automated functions) may include thefollowing genes:

SockSend—Socket based activity

RunKey—Sets a run key

Exec—Executes other programs

CopySys—Copies itself to the system directory

AVList—Contains a list of AV products

IRC—IRC references

Host—References the hosts file

In a fifth step, an output may be generated. For example, the mostsignificant phenotype may be reported. Alternatively and/or in addition,all identified phenotypes, genotypes and/or threat classifications maybe reported. Reporting may include generating and/or editing a log file,printing an output, emailing an output, generating an audible output,generating a visual output, facsimile transmission of an output,electronic storage of an output, or the like. In addition to reporting,an output may include disinfection, deletion, and/or quarantine of thefile and/or related files, for example.

In an example of this method in operation, files may be routed oridentified to the security analysis facility 440A. As files enter thesecurity analysis facility 440A, the files are checked to see if thefiles are recognized as being ‘packed’. This ‘packed’ recognition usessimilar techniques to virus detection, for example, where certain bytesat a program entry point and/or other properties are evaluated to see ifthere is a match with a known packer. If the file is packed, thesecurity analysis facility 440A may use unpacking identities toreconstruct the file into an ‘unpacked’ state. For example, if a file isdetermined to be packed using a certain packing scheme or program, acorresponding unpacking identity or identities may be used toreconstruct the file in an unpacked (e.g., unencoded, unencrypted,unwrapped and/or decompressed) state.

For example, the unpacking process may decrypt and decompress applicablehost data in the file. Then, back imports, resources and entry point maybe fixed for the unpacked file. File table(s) may be modified to causethe unpacked file to appear valid.

Once the file is unpacked, core functionality and variouscharacteristics/properties of the program may be examined. In certainembodiments, as discussed above, not all files reach the examinationstage, since various initial checks can be used to determine if it isworth spending extra time to analyze the file (e.g., checksums, etc.).At a basic level, certain functionality can be determined to areasonable degree of confidence from file imports (such as networkfunctionality, process injection, etc.), and other useful informationcan be obtained from various other properties (such as various portableexecutable (PE) tables, internal resources, etc.). To gain a higherdegree of confidence however, the file may be ‘sequenced’ to look at thevarious ‘blocks’ or groupings of functionality in context.

Sequencing involves tracing through the file and identifying ‘blocks’ offunctionality (a block roughly translates to a function/procedure in thesource code, for example). When sequencing is complete, a list of blocksmay be available to be examined. Blocks contain a combination of APIcalls and strings that are referenced within the block. Programs canhave very few or very many blocks depending on their functionality.

Gene identities typically contain one specific identifyingcharacteristic (for example, the ability to download a file from apredetermined URL). These genes are matched against the list of sequenceblocks (if appropriate to do so) from the file and/or against anothertype of characteristic. If a gene is triggered (i.e., matched), the geneis placed into a list. In certain embodiments, all available genes areexamined to see if there is a match.

Once genes have been identified, the next stage may be to try and matchthe list of genes against phenotype identities. Similar to how genes arematched against sequence blocks, phenotypes are matched against the listof generated genes. The phenotype identity defines if a particularcombination of genes suggests that the file should be reported assuspicious or malicious, for example.

For example, suppose a file is analyzed which contains a virus, such asthe W32/Agobot-XJ virus. The file may be analyzed and the unpackingidentity recognizes that the file is packed with Morphine, a packerprogram which encrypts and wraps a file to make identificationdifficult. The file is unpacked using unpacking identities and the‘Packed’ gene, the ‘Morphine’ gene and the ‘Malicious packer’ gene areset for the file.

After unpacking, the unpacked file may be rechecked and may be found tobe packed with UPX, a compression packer for executable files. The fileis again unpacked using unpacking identities. The ‘Packed’ gene may beset and the ‘UPX’ gene may be set. Note that UPX may not be classifiedas ‘Malicious’ because UPX software has legitimate uses for filecompression. Morphine, however, is classified as ‘Malicious’ because itis intended to encrypt a file and make the file difficult to identify.

Next, the file may be sequenced, and a list of functional blocksrepresenting source code and execution flow in the file may beconstructed. Gene identities may be matched against the extractedfunctional block and relational data. As an example, the series offunctions ‘GetSystemDirectoryA, GetModuleHandleA, GetModuleFileNameA,CopyFileA’ equates to the ‘CopySys’ gene, wherein a file copies itselfto a system directory. Genes identified in or matched againstfunctionality in the file include, for example:

Gene: WrCdSec

Gene: Packed

Gene: OthrExSec

Gene: MultExSec

Gene: EpNotFrSec

Gene: DodgyPk

Gene: Exec

Gene: GenSock

Gene: SendRecv

Gene: ShellExt

Gene: RunKeyDLL

Gene: RunKey

Gene: OffAddin

Gene: IntGetCon

Gene: DnsQu

Gene: shtdwn

Gene: Priv

Gene: CreateServ

Gene: StartServ

Gene: WebList

Gene: AVList

Gene: EnumTerm

Gene: EnumProc

Gene: RandWeb

Gene: http

Gene: CopySys

Gene: CreateSys

Gene: Mime

Gene: IPC

Gene: IRC

Gene: SockSend

Gene: Host

Gene: SerCtlHan

Gene: LETwoSecs

Pack: Morphine-B

Pack: UPX

These combinations of genes may be matched against phenotype identities.In this exemplary case, the gene combinations match a ‘IRC bot’phenotype because the file has the following genes:

Gene: RunKey

Gene: IntGetCon

Gene: DnsQu

Gene: shtdwn

Gene: Priv

Gene: CreateServ

Gene: StartServ

Gene: AVList

Gene: EnumTerm

Gene: EnumProc

Gene: http

Gene: CopySys

Gene: CreateSys

Gene: Mime

Gene: IRC

Gene: SockSend

Gene: Host

Gene: SerCtlHan

Since this particular phenotype is of type Malicious, the file may beblocked by the on-access scanner and/or other scanner. The file may bedeleted, disinfected or quarantined depending on user configuration.

In an embodiment, the policy manager 112 may be an application thatprovides an interface to the enterprise network 408 system administrator134 for the development of enterprise policy databases for the controlof application execution. In an embodiment, the policy manager 112 maybe a stand-alone application or may be included in the enterprisenetwork 408. The policy manager 112 may include a graphic user interface(GUI), database manager, file browser, or the like to allow the systemadministrator 134 capability of creating policy files on the enterprisenetwork. In an embodiment, the system administrator 134 may use thepolicy manager to directly configure the file analysis database 430 andsecurity analysis database 442 that may be resident on the enterprisenetwork 408.

In an embodiment, the system administrator 134 may be any person that isresponsible for the operation, maintenance, or the like of an enterprisecomputer device network.

In an embodiment, the other network applications 422 may be anyapplication that is on a network remote to the enterprise network 308.In an embodiment, the remote network may be an Internet, an intranet, aLAN, a WAN, a peer-to-peer network, or the like.

In an embodiment, the enterprise applications 420 may be any applicationthat is on the enterprise network 408. In an embodiment, the enterpriseapplication 420 may be executed by a computer device connected to theenterprise network 408 (e.g. clients 414).

In an embodiment, the client 414 may be any computer device that isconnected to the enterprise network 408. The client 414 may be a desktopcomputer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a handheld computer, orthe like. The client may provide an interface for the user to interfacewith the client 414, enterprise network 408, other network applications422, enterprise applications 420, client applications 418, or the like.The client may also provide connections to connect to external resourcesthat may include the policy management network server 402, the securitymanagement network sever 432, or the like.

In an embodiment, the client may have a file analysis facility 424B anda security analysis facility 440B that are substantially the same as theenterprise network 308 file analysis facility 424A and security analysisfacility 440A. In an embodiment, the client 414 file analysis facility424B and security analysis facility 440B may be copied from theenterprise network 408.

In an embodiment, the function of the file analysis facility 424B mayfunction substantially the same as the file analysis facility 424Adescribed previously.

In an embodiment, the function of the security analysis facility 440Bmay function substantially the same as the security analysis facility440A described previously.

In an embodiment, the client applications 418 may be any applicationthat is stored on the client 414 computer device. In an embodiment, theclient applications 418 may be accessed by any computer device connectedon the enterprise network 408.

The elements depicted in flow charts and block diagrams throughout thefigures imply logical boundaries between the elements. However,according to software or hardware engineering practices, the depictedelements and the functions thereof may be implemented as parts of amonolithic software structure, as standalone software modules, or asmodules that employ external routines, code, services, and so forth, orany combination of these, and all such implementations are within thescope of the present disclosure. Thus, while the foregoing drawings anddescription set forth functional aspects of the disclosed systems, noparticular arrangement of software for implementing these functionalaspects should be inferred from these descriptions unless explicitlystated or otherwise clear from the context.

Similarly, it will be appreciated that the various steps identified anddescribed above may be varied, and that the order of steps may beadapted to particular applications of the techniques disclosed herein.All such variations and modifications are intended to fall within thescope of this disclosure. As such, the depiction and/or description ofan order for various steps should not be understood to require aparticular order of execution for those steps, unless required by aparticular application, or explicitly stated or otherwise clear from thecontext.

The methods or processes described above, and steps thereof, may berealized in hardware, software, or any combination of these suitable fora particular application. The hardware may include a general-purposecomputer and/or dedicated computing device. The processes may berealized in one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, embeddedmicrocontrollers, programmable digital signal processors or otherprogrammable device, along with internal and/or external memory. Theprocesses may also, or instead, be embodied in an application specificintegrated circuit, a programmable gate array, programmable array logic,or any other device or combination of devices that may be configured toprocess electronic signals. It will further be appreciated that one ormore of the processes may be realized as computer executable codecreated using a structured programming language such as C, an objectoriented programming language such as C++, or any other high-level orlow-level programming language (including assembly languages, hardwaredescription languages, and database programming languages andtechnologies) that may be stored, compiled or interpreted to run on oneof the above devices, as well as heterogeneous combinations ofprocessors, processor architectures, or combinations of differenthardware and software.

Thus, in one aspect, each method described above and combinationsthereof may be embodied in computer executable code that, when executingon one or more computing devices, performs the steps thereof. In anotheraspect, the methods may be embodied in systems that perform the stepsthereof, and may be distributed across devices in a number of ways, orall of the functionality may be integrated into a dedicated, standalonedevice or other hardware. In another aspect, means for performing thesteps associated with the processes described above may include any ofthe hardware and/or software described above. All such permutations andcombinations are intended to fall within the scope of the presentdisclosure.

While the invention has been disclosed in connection with the preferredembodiments shown and described in detail, various modifications andimprovements thereon will become readily apparent to those skilled inthe art. Accordingly, the spirit and scope of the present invention isnot to be limited by the foregoing examples, but is to be understood inthe broadest sense allowable by law.

All documents referenced herein are hereby incorporated by reference.

1-25. (canceled)
 26. A computer program product comprisingnon-transitory computer executable code embodied in a computer readablemedium that, when executing on one or more computing devices, performsthe steps of: providing a policy management service for an enterprisenetwork, the policy management service configured to provide protectionservices to one or more endpoints in the enterprise network based onapplication types; detecting an application executing on one of theendpoints; disassembling a binary executable for the application torecreate functional blocks of code for the application; forming a listof genes associated with the functional blocks, each gene correspondingto an identifying characteristic of the application; matching phenotypesagainst the list of genes to identify a phenotype; categorizing theapplication into one of a number of application types based on thephenotype; and conditionally limiting network access by the applicationbased on the one of the number of application types of the application.27. A method comprising: organizing a number of applications into anumber of application types; providing a policy management service foran enterprise network, the policy management service configured toprovide protection services to one or more endpoints in the enterprisenetwork based on the application types; detecting an applicationexecuting on one of the endpoints; disassembling a binary executable forthe application to recreate functional blocks of code for theapplication; grouping a number of the functional blocks into aphenotype; categorizing the application into one of the applicationtypes based on the phenotype; and applying the protection services tothe endpoint based on the one of the application types of theapplication.
 28. The method of claim 27, wherein disassembling thebinary executable for the application to recreate functional blocks ofcode for the application includes reconstructing the application in anunpacked state.
 29. The method of claim 27, wherein each functionalblock contains a combination of API calls and strings referenced withinthe functional block.
 30. The method of claim 27, wherein the functionalblocks of the code for the application are representative of at leastone function and at least one execution flow of the application.
 31. Themethod of claim 27, wherein the functional blocks of the code for theapplication include a sequence of application program interface calls.32. The method of claim 27, wherein the functional blocks of the codefor the application include string references.
 33. The method of claim27, wherein applying the protection services includes one or more ofupdating at least one of a whitelist of acceptable applications, awhitelist of a group of application types, a blacklist of applications,or a blacklist of unacceptable application types.
 34. The method ofclaim 27, wherein applying the protection services includes providing amalicious code protection update service.
 35. The method of claim 27,wherein applying the protection services includes providing a firewallservice.
 36. The method of claim 27, wherein applying the protectionservices includes conditionally limiting network access by theapplication.
 37. The method of claim 27, wherein applying the protectionservices includes restricting access to external resources for the oneof the endpoints.
 38. The method of claim 27, wherein applying theprotection services includes restricting access to internal functions ofthe one of the endpoints.
 39. The method of claim 27, wherein applyingthe protection services includes blocking execution of the application.40. The method of claim 27, wherein the application includes at leastone of a network application and a web application.
 41. The method ofclaim 27, wherein the protection services are further configured toconditionally restrict use of the application on the one of theendpoints based on a user type for the one of the endpoints.
 42. Themethod of claim 27, wherein applying the protection services includesapplying the protection services from a threat management facility forthe enterprise network.
 43. The method of claim 27, wherein the one ofthe applications types corresponds to messaging applications.
 44. Themethod of claim 27, wherein the number of application types includes atleast one of a messaging category, an electronic mail category, abrowser category, and a word processing category and a databasecategory.
 45. A system comprising: a threat management facility storinginformation in a database organizing a number of applications into anumber of application types, the threat management facility providing apolicy management service including protection services for one or moreendpoints of an enterprise network; a data network; and an endpointcoupled to the threat management facility through the data network theendpoint configured by computer executable code stored in a memory ofthe endpoint to perform the steps of detecting an application executingon the one of the endpoints, disassembling an executable for theapplication to recreate functional blocks of code for the application,categorizing the application into one of the application types based onphenotypes derived from the functional blocks, and applying theprotection services to the endpoint based on the one of the applicationtypes of the application.